Written by Clare Haynes, Managing Director, Wildfire

Esconced by email, subdued by stacks of information, balancing the visible with the virtual….it’s easy to de-humanise our jobs isn’t it?

If you ran a focus group or a survey in your office, you’d be surprised to hear a) what difficulties staff face and b) how they perceive these could be solved. Most astounding is often how simple the solutions are and often it’s just a matter of injecting a pinch of the personal:

What do your people want?

Not many jobs are “an easy ride” as we increasingly focus on efficiency, speed and quality. Therefore people are under additional pressures as we constantly seek improvement. Do your team get what they need, to achieve results?

What do they need to support them?

There’s a long list, but it includes….being heard, sharing problems, helping each other, increasing teamwork, being acknowledged, listening to people with similar issues, discovering time-saving “tricks” from colleagues, hearing how management strategies are forming…..these are what people like to feel less isolated, valued and informed.

And how do you do that, quickly and simply?

Team briefings. NO! Not by email! It must be verbal.....at best, weekly, at worst monthly. You can easily brief your team. You can outline your priorities in minutes and instruct your team on trends and developments that affect their work.

Let’s say you speak at 125 words per minute but type at 40 - it will take you under a third of the time it’d take you to scribe an email and it allows for a Q&A session too, thus eliminating misunderstandings.

So isn’t this just making you more work?

Not at all. Take these 3 steps to make it simple:

1. Set a regular time and duration – 30 obligatory minutes a week
2. Make it formal but unfussy e.g. a “standing” meeting in the office, providing people can pay attention
3. Have an easy format e.g. your briefing lasts 5-10 minutes with a 5 minute Q&A followed by everyone having 60 seconds each for sharing their highlights (and/or lowlights)

Warning: Early Monday mornings aren’t popular, as people gear up after the weekend.

Top tip: You don’t need to “own” this routine. As long as it’s regular, disciplined and meaningful, you can get your team to plan it.

Go and get your team warmed up!

For more information, please contact Clare Haynes at Wildfire on 0845 430 9101.

http://www.wildfirecoaching.com/